Desire: Harry and Ginny
by The Kriller
Summary: What happened when Harry sees a third person in the mirror during his first year at Hogwarts? Harry and Ginny experience a desire for each other from Harry's first year to the day they die.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: The Mirror**

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><p><strong>AN:<strong> **Hey so this is my first fan fiction so I'm kind of new at this although I have a lot of ideas. I've written many stories before, but this is the first one I'm publishing! Please review so I have an idea of what you guys are looking for. Thanks for the help!**

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did it wouldn't be famous.<p>

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><p>Snape reached out as if to grab something that wasn't there.<p>

Harry, concealed under his invisibility cloak, slowly moved back, holding his breath so as not to be heard.

Snape's hand closed, oblivious to the fact that Harry was just out of his reach.

Harry quickly and quietly moved into an abandoned classroom and locked the door behind him.

He sat down an immediately knew that something was out of place. He looked around and a large mirror in the back of the room confirmed his suspicions.

_'I wonder what this is?'_ The curious 11 year old boy thought to himself.

Slowly, Harry approached the mirror until he was standing in front of it. Then to his surprise, to adult figures appeared before him, one man and one woman. "Mom?" Harry said, looking at the woman. Lilly looked at him and nodded her head while smiling. "Dad?" he asked James Potter, and the man nodded his head. Harry looked behind him, but saw nothing. He turned back to the mirror and looked at his parents. This was the happiest he ever felt, being able to see his parents in a mirror, rather than a quick glance in the flashbacks he experienced.

Then, his mom stepped to the side, and Harry saw someone in the distance. He turned around, but saw no one there. He then looked back at the mirror he saw the person was moving closer to him. He was able to make out more and more of the person. He noticed that it was a young girl, about his age. She had red hair and brown eyes, and soon he could make out the freckles that were on her face. She was wearing regular muggle clothing, jeans and a tee-shirt. Soon she was standing next to him and she put her arm around Harry's shoulders. Harry thought she was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his entire life. He felt her arm on his shoulders, but when he looked back there was no one there.

He knew he had seen her before, but he couldn't remember where. She sat down on the ground, and followed her example. He looked at his parents, who were still standing, and they smiled and nodded at him as if in approval. He wrapped his arms around his knees, and the girl rested her arm on his shoulders again. Harry wished he could return the gesture, but when he tried, he only felt air. Sighing, he put his hands back to their original position on his knees. As if seeing his disappointment, the girl rested her head on his shoulders, and Harry felt the comfort that was intended for him.

If only he could remember who she was.

Then an idea came to him.

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><p>"Harry where are we going?" The half-awake Ron Weasley wondered as they entered the class room. "I told you Ron," Harry said as he threw off the cloak, "There's this mirror that shows my parents and someone else, but I don't know who she is!"<p>

"Oh ok you could have said that before."

"I DID!"

"You did?"

"YES! Now stand here."

"Ok."

"Now do you know who she is?"

Ron looked into the mirror for a moment, then his eyes widened in pleasure and a smile formed on his face.

"Harry look! I'm the Quiditch team captain! And we just won the cup! I look good." he said sentimentally. "Oh and That's Hermi..." Ron stopped and a blush formed on his face, almost matching his hair.

"What?" Harry asked.

"Nothing Ron said, looking back at Harry.

"Harry, do you think this mirror shows the future?"

"How can it?" replied Harry, "My parents are dead."

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><p>Every night, Harry would sneak out and come to this room, and look into the mirror. Some nights is would show just his parents, sometimes just the girl. Both times he experiences pure joy.<p>

After about a month, Professor Dumbledore was watching Harry as he sat in front of the mirror.

"Harry." Dumbledore whispered to him.

Jumping up, Harry turned around and stared at the headmaster.

"I'm sorry sir." Harry said quietly.

"Sorry? Harry there is nothing to be sorry for. You have discovered one of the few things that can help us understand ourselves better."

"I'm sorry sir. I don't know what you mean."

"You see Harry," Dumbledore replied with a twinkle in his eye, "This mirror shows us what we desire the most. By using this mirror, you will be able to dig deeper into your soul and find out how to live a better life. By showing us our greatest desire, we are able to see where our heart lies."

"So, when I see my parents, how can that help me?" Harry asked, deciding to keep the girl a secret.

"That is for you to decide, Harry. Only you can choose your destiny. I can help guide you, but you must figure it out for yourself."

'_I hate when he speaks in riddles.' _Harry thought to himself.

"This mirror will be being moved somewhere else tomorrow morning, Harry. Its location will be kept a secret though I am sorry to say." The Professor explained.

"Why is that, Professor?"

"I'm sorry to tell you Harry, but it has a greater need now. That is all I can say."

"Yes sir."

Dumbledore smiled, and started to walk out of the room.

"Sir," Harry called out after him, "what is you don't know what your greatest desire is?"

"Well Harry," Dumbledore chuckled to himself, "If I am correct, you have seen it before, but at the time you didn't know you desired it. This only happened when you will desire that thing the next time you see it."

"I'm sorry?"

"The next time you see this desire, you will know, Harry."

This left Harry pondering. Where had he seen the beautiful red haired girl that kept showing up?

Harry was about to leave, when he realized that this might be the last time he sees his parents again.

He turned around and sat on the ground in front of the mirror. Both his parents and the girl showed up at the same time for the first time in a month.

And then he knew that it wouldn't be the last time he would see the mirror.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: The Sorcerer's Stone**

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did it wouldn't be famous.<p>

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><p>Every night Harry dreamed about the girl that he saw in the mirror. Sometimes she appeared to him older, sometimes younger. He couldn't get her out of his head.<p>

That day, he, Ron, and Hermione had found out what the three headed dog was guarding: the Sorcerer's Stone.

"Snape is after it, I'm sure of it." Hermione told the rest of the trio. "Why else would he be limping around?"

"Yeah," Harry agreed, "He was also threatening Quirrell one night when I was sneaking around."

"You were WHAT? Harry that's against the rules! You know that!" Hermione scolded.

"Yeah, yeah I know. It was over Christmas though. But it doesn't matter now. We need to focus on how we're going to get down the trap door tonight."

Hermione, though she was still upset with Harry for breaking the rules, agreed.

"What did Hagrid say, play music?" Ron asked.

"Yes, Ron," Hermione replied, seeming a bit annoyed. "Although he also said that Snape was one of the people helping to protect the stone. To me it just seems like he's trying to make it easier for himself to get through."

"You're right Hermione," replied Harry, "The less puzzles he has to figure out, it'll make it that much easier for him to get to it."

"Exactly!" Hermione chimed, "We know that he'll be able to get past two of them, but we don't know how many traps are down there, and he does."

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><p>That night, Harry, Ron, and Hermione all went to leave the common room. As they were going down the stairs, they saw Trevor, Neville's toad, sitting on the chair.<p>

"Trevor!" Hermione whispered, "You're not supposed to be here!"

"And neither are you." Came Neville's voice.

"You're sneaking out again, aren't you? You're going to get Gryffindor into more trouble now! I won't let you go! I…I'll fight you!" he stammered out.

"Neville, I'm really sorry about this," Hermione said, her apologetic tone catching Neville off guard, "Patrificus Totallus!" Hermione shouted, pointing her wand at Neville.

Immediately Neville straightened up and his arms and legs shot together. He appeared frozen, and he fell backwards, remaining in the same stiff position as before.

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><p>Harry, Ron, and Hermione made their way to the third floor corridor, concealed under Harry's invisibility cloak.<p>

When they got to Fluffy's room, they heard soft music playing.

"Is he…" Hermione was cut off as the huge three-headed dog snored and the invisibility cloak flew off them. "…sleeping?" Hermione finished.

"Snape's already been here." Harry added, noticing the harp playing in the corner.

The three saw the trap door that was on the floor. The only problem was, the dog's paw was covering it.

"Well let's get going." Ron said impatiently, and started to lift the huge paw off the door.

The other two stared for a moment, but the realized what was happening and went to help Ron lift the paw.

They got it off and opened the door on the floor.

"I wonder how far down it is?" Ron stated.

"Does it seem a bit…quiet?" Hermione asked cautiously.

"The harp!" Harry half yelled.

Just then, a large string of saliva landed on Ron's shoulder.

"YUCK!" Ron stated, as he tried to remove it.

Just then the three looked up, to see the three heads of the dog staring at them, teeth bared.

"AHHHHHHHHH!" The three screamed as they quickly dove into the passage that the trap door covered.

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><p>All three of them landed softly on what seemed to be a bunch of weeds.<p>

Suddenly, the weeds started to latch themselves onto the three friends and started squeezing tighter the more they struggled.

"It's Devil's Snare!" Hermione realized, "You two! Stop struggling! It'll only make it worse!"

"Oh jeez! Thanks Hermione!" Ron yelled sarcastically, "Now we'll only die faster than we normally would!"

Hermione sighed at Ron's stubbornness and started to relax. Suddenly, the Devil's Snare seemed to engulf her.

"HERMIONE!" the two boys yelled.

"It's okay! I'm alright! Just relax!" Hermione encouraged.

Harry, taking Hermione's advice, relaxed and passed through the Devil's Snare to the floor below.

"HARRY!" Ron yelled.

Suddenly, there was a burst of light and the Snare receded from Ron, letting him fall through to the floor below.

"Good thing we relaxed." The red head stated.

Hermione, clearly annoyed at her friend, led the way to the next room. In there were hundreds of flying keys, and a floating broom in the middle of the room.

The door leading to the next room was locked, and no matter what Ron or Hermione did, the door wouldn't open. Harry, on the other hand, was staring at the broom. He saw a key with a damaged wing, and before Ron or Hermione could stop him, he mounted the broom and took off after the key. As soon as Harry touched the broom, the damaged key started flying away, and all the other keys chased after him. Harry chased after the key and once he got it, unlocked the door and quickly opened it and closed it, safely reaching the other side.

The next room was a chess board. Although this was a life-sized one. After a very intense game, led by Ron, Ron ended up sacrificing himself so they could go on. After winning the game, Harry led a very reluctant Hermione to the next room.

This room was tricky, as there was a riddle, along with various potions of shapes and sizes. In front of the door was a roaring fire that wouldn't let them pass. Out of the many potions, only one would let the drinker pass through the flames unharmed. All the others were poison. Hermione took her time solving the riddle, and then after solving the riddle and realizing which potion wouldn't kill you, she gave it to Harry.

"You need to be the one to go on, Harry," Hermione insisted, "I'll go back and take care of Ron. Go!"

Harry reluctantly went on to the final room.

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><p>Upon arriving, Harry saw a familiar maroon turban standing in front of a mirror. THE mirror.<p>

"You!" Harry gasped.

Quirrell turned around as if expecting Harry.

"Yes boy, me! Who else did you expect!" the Professor snapped as if annoyed.

"I need to get the stone! And I know I need to use the mirror! But I don't know how to get it!" The teacher screamed.

"_Use the boy!"_ a raspy, bodiless voice commanded.

Quirrell turned around and pointed at Harry, "You, Potter! Come here!"

As if against their will, Harry's legs started moving towards Quirrell until he was standing next to the Professor.

"Look into the mirror! Tell me what you see!"

Harry looked into the mirror. He saw the beautiful red headed girl come up to him! She was holding something that gave off a red glow and she gave Harry a hug first. She then put the object into Harry's pocket, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and skipped off into the distance. Harry then felt the weight of the Sorcerer's Stone in his pocket.

"Well?" Quirrell snapped, "What do you see!?"

"I…I'm standing next to Dumbledore," Harry lied, "We've won the house cup. He's shaking my hand and my house is cheering in the background."

"_He lies!"_ the voice came back.

"Tell the truth!" the teacher yelled at him.

"_Let me see him with my own eyes!" _

"B…b…but Master," Quirrell stuttered, "You are not strong enough yet."

"_I am strong enough…for this!"_

Slowly, the professor unwound his turban, revealing another face on the back of his bald head.

"Voldemort!" Harry exclaimed.

"_Yes, boy, it is me! Now give me the stone which you have in your POCKET!"_

Harry tried to make a run for it, but before he could escape, a fire formed a circle around himself and Voldemort, trapping him in there.

"_Get him!" _Voldemort commanded and Quirrell stuck out his arms and went to grab Harry. Quirrell went to put his hands on Harry, when Harry grabbed his wrists, trying to hold him off. Quirrell's hands immediately burned off and crumpled to the ground.

"Wha…what is this magic!" Quirrell exclaimed as Harry grabbed Quirrell's head, which met the same fate.

Quirrell's bodiless robes crumpled to the floor as Harry fell to his knees, blacking out.

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><p><strong>AN: Thanks to the reviewers who gave me advice on the story! This is my second chapter in a day, but don't expect this all the time, but I'll update as often as I can!<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: Coming Home**

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><p><strong>AN: Thanks again to my reviewers who help me in the story! As you can start to see the chapters are getting longer as I realize what I need to put in it. If you guys have any suggestions on how to make previous chapters better, just let me know and I'll consider your opinion. Thanks and as always, review and comment!<strong>

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did it wouldn't be famous.<p>

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><p>Harry awoke in the hospital.<p>

He vaguely remembered the events of the previous night, or was it two nights ago? He couldn't remember.

Slowly, he took in his surroundings and realized that his glasses were on the side table, next to the bed.

He reached out and put them on, and was surprised to see Professor Dumbledore sitting at the end of his bed.

"Good morning Harry," the wise old Headmaster greeted him, "or should I say 'good after noon'?"

"Professor!" Harry exclaimed, recalling the events of that night, "The Stone!"

"Calm down, my dear boy, calm down." The Headmaster said, quite calmly. "The stone has been destroyed."

"Destroyed?" Harry asked, quite confused, "But Nicholas Flamel? He'll die now though."

"Yes Harry, I'm afraid so, but even he was in complete agreement. It is for the best."

Harry paused at this, and tried to think of how long he was out.

"Two weeks." The old man said, as if reading his mind.

"I'm sorry sir?"

"That's how long you've been out."

A sudden realization dawned on Harry.

"Sir!" Harry cried out, "My e..."

"Harry. Harry, calm down. Those have been taken care of. I have made special arrangements with all of you living teachers," at this Dumbledore winked at him, "and you will not have to take your final exams this year."

A wave of relief came over Harry, when another question came to him.

"Sir, how did I get the stone?"

"You see Harry, that mirror refused the stone to the man who wanted to use the stone for power. In this case that was Voldemort. You, my dear boy, wanted the stone, but you didn't want it for your own uses, you wanted it so that you could save it. Protect it. You didn't want Voldemort to have it, so the stone came to you.

"Hmm." The old man said as if in thought. "The first time I had one of these, was the last time. I got a bugger flavored one. I suppose one more can't hurt."

The professor cautiously put one into his mouth and smiled.

"Oh," he said to himself "Bath soap."

Harry chuckled at this and realized that madam Pomfrey was coming into view.

"Oh finally your awake and I can wash these sheets!" She hurriedly said to herself. "Off with you now, you're free to go!"

Dumbledore, after chuckling at his nurse, turned to Harry and said, "I think you friends are anxious to see you."

Harry, understanding what he meant, rushed outside to see his two best friends, Ron and Hermione, talking on the stairs above him.

"Hey guys." Harry said, smiling up at them.

"HARRY!" The two said to him as they rushed down the stairs to greet him.

The three embraced one another and slapped Harry on the back.

As the trio made their way down to the great hall where the final banquet would be held, everyone, with the exceptions of the Slytherin and Percy, congratulated Harry as they passed him in the hallway.

As they entered the Great Hall, they couldn't help but notice the green and silver banners decorating the hall. Sighing, the three friends took their seats.

Then Dumbledore tapped his goblet and the whole hall quieted.

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully you heads are all a little fuller than they were, you have the whole summer ahead of get them nice and empty before next year starts.

Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."

At this the Slytherin table erupted in cheers.

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

"Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes...

"First, to Mr. Ronald Weasley, for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years. I award Gryffindor House fifty points."

"Second, to Miss Hermione Granger, for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor House fifty points."

"Third, to Mr. Harry Potter..." said Dumbledore. The room went deadly quiet. "...for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor House sixty points."

"We're tied with Slytherin!" Hermione whispered to everyone, doing the math in her brain, which was probably too big for her head.

"There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."

"Which means, we need a little change of decoration."

At this the Head-of-School clapped his hands, and immediately the green and silver banners of Slytherin changed to the red and gold of Gryffindor.

Once this soaked in for all of the students, all the tables, with the exception of the disgusted Slytherin and Percy, who were complaining that the professor was biased, broke out into cheers that could be heard throughout the school.

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><p>While Harry was extremely happy with how things went at the end of year feast, all he could think about on the train ride home was the beautiful, red haired, brown eyed, freckled girl that he kept dreaming about.<p>

At first he talked and joked with Ron and Hermione for a while, but then he decided he needed to get away before they suspected something was up.

"I'm gonna use the loo, then look for the trolley when I'm done."

Ron and Hermione both looked at him with questioning looks, but just said, "Okay," and went back to their small talk.

Harry exited the compartment and instead of heading for the facilities, he went the other way to where there were some open compartments. Finding an empty one, he looked around, went in, locked the door, and pulled down the shades. He didn't want any wanderers looking in and wondering what 'the-boy-who-lived' was doing alone.

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><p>"Something else is on his mind." Hermione told Ron as soon as Harry left them. "I'd say he fancies a girl and he's gone off to an empty compartment to think about her."<p>

"Yeah," replied Ron, "At least he's not like my sister. She's all 'Oh my Merlin! I'm going to school with Harry Potter next year! What'll I wear? Do you think he'll notice me?' It's bloody annoying!"

"Ha-ha! Your right Ron! I'd have to stop being friends with him. What if Harry sees your sister and ditches his current crush for her!"

"Don't even start, Hermione. Every night it's 'Mom tell me another Harry Potter story!' We're running out of ideas now. Hopefully she'll see him with whoever he fancies and give up."

"Aww, Ron! Don't say that! She'll probably hate you for it! What's her name anyways? Does she look like you?"

"Ginny. That's her name. She's a year and a half younger than me, red hair and freckles like all of us, but her eyes are like Fred and Georges, brown."

At this Harry came back into the compartment, a chocolate frog in his hand.

"What'ch ya guys talking about?" Harry asked the two.

"You/Stuff." Hermione and Ron said at the same time, respectively.

"Wait so who's telling the truth?"

"Me." They said perfectly in sync.

Hermione scowled at Ron. "We were talking about how you went to an empty compartment to think about something, probably a girl, rather than 'use the loo'."

Harry stared at her, blushing and not knowing what to say.

"Hey Ron, can we…"

"…Talk to you?"

Harry spun around and saw Fred and George standing in the open doorway.

"In private." they said in unison as they eyed Harry and Hermione.

To Harry's relief, Ron got up and shut the door behind him. He followed Fred and George down the Hallway and into their compartment. George seemed to look around before shutting the door behind him.

"So?" Hermione asked Harry after he sat down across from her.

"So…what?" Harry replied, hoping to avoid the conversation that was bound to come.

"Was I right?"

"Yeah." Harry replied dolefully.

"Who is it?" Hermione questioned, getting right to the point. "I won't tell Ron."

"Okay, well to tell you the truth I don't really know."

"What?"

"During Christmas break, I came across this room with a mirror in it. In the mirror, I saw my parents and… this girl, but I don't know who she is. Dumbledore explained to me that the mirror showed our greatest desires. My parents I could understand, but not this girl. She was beautiful, but I don't know where I had seen her before."

"Wow, that's a lot to take in." Hermione stated. "What did she look like; maybe I could help you out."

"Well, looked to be about my age, maybe a little younger. She had red hair that went down just below her shoulders, freckles across her face, and brown eyes."

Hermione stared at him in shock. _'Ginny?' _she thought to herself. _'Ron's gonna kill him if he finds out!'_

"What?" Harry asked clearly confused.

"Sorry," she replied, recovering from her trance, "I was just thinking. I don't think I know. Sorry Harry."

Just then, Ron entered the room looking pale and stiff.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, clearly concerned.

Ron just shook his head and sat down next to Harry.

Just then they pulled into King's Cross station. Harry looked out the window, sighing when he saw all the parents waiting for their children at the station.

The train came to a stop, and just as he started to turn away, he saw a flash of red and he looked back to where he saw it. And there she was. The girl in the mirror. She hadn't seen him yet. He quickly got all of his stuff and got out before Ron and Hermione even stood up.

"What the bloody hell?" Ron said, following Harry muttering something under his breath.

Hermione sighed and looked out the window where Harry was staring. Then she saw it. Ginny. Standing next to her mum. Ron had caught up with Harry at this point and was pointing to his mum and Ginny. She smiled to herself as she saw harry slow down when he saw Ginny.

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><p>'<em>Ron's gonna kill me!' <em>Harry thought to himself.

"Harry! How are you dear! So good to finally meet you!" Mrs. Weasley took him into a bone crushing hug.

"It's nice to …oof… meet you too." He made out, his eyes never leaving Ron's sister, who slowly scooted behind her mother, blushing slightly.

"Oh Harry," Mrs. Weasley continued, stepping aside so he could properly see Ron's sister, "This is Ginny, she's going to be attending Hogwarts next year."

"Hi Ginny." Harry barley made out, trying to act as normal as possible.

"H-h-h-hi H-h-Harry." She said shyly, blushing furiously now, almost so that her face was redder than her hair.

"She's been talking about you as long as she could talk." Ron whispered in his ear. "It's probably the greatest moment of her life right now. It gets annoying after a while though."

"Well let's get going, don't want to keep your relatives waiting, Harry." Mrs. Weasley said as she moved all of her children to the barrier.

Once they got through Harry heard, "Come on boy! We don't have all day!"

Sighing, Harry moved towards his Uncle. As he walked away, he couldn't help smiling as he heard Ginny's distinct voice saying, "That was Harry Mum! He talked to me! He knows my name! Ohhh I can't wait till next year! Do you think…" Her voice was cut out as Harry's uncle slammed the door on the car.

It was going to be a long summer.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: The Midnight Rescue**

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><p><strong>AN: Ok I'm so sorry that it took so long for me to upload this chapter. I was at sleep away cape for 2 weeks so ya sorry I couldn't update sooner. Again thanks to all the reviewers who have given me ideas and told me how the story was coming. I had no idea that it would be like this. Thanks to everyone!<strong>

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><p>Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. If I did it wouldn't be famous.<p>

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><p>I can't, Hedwig. I'm not allowed to use magic outside of school. Besides, if Uncle Vernon…" At the sound of the name, Hedwig squawked again, this time louder.<p>

"Harry Potter!" the unmistakable voice of Vernon Dursley sounded up the stairs.

"Now you've done it." Harry said to the snowy white owl.

Harry rushed down the stairs to confront his raging Uncle. "I've told you to keep that bird quiet. Now either you shut it up or I will."

"But she's bored!" Harry protested to his uncle. "Maybe if I could let her out for . . . an hour."

"So you can what?" screamed Vernon. "Send bloody little letters to your freakish friends? I don't think so!"

"You see," continued Harry's Uncle, "We took you in, fed you, clothed you, even given you Dudley's second bedroom! Purely out of the kindness of our hearts!"

As Vernon said that last part, he clutched the right side of his chest, the side his heart wasn't on.

"Now, as soon as the guests arrive, you will have been locked in your room where you cannot be found or seen, GOT IT?"

"Yes sir."

"GOOD. Now GET OUT!"

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><p>Harry hurriedly ran up the stairs and charged into his room, only to find a small, ragged, bat-eared creature jumping on his bed.<p>

"Excuse me, but who are you?" Harry asked the creature.

"Oh!" the creature realized Harry had arrived. "Dobby sir, Dobby the house elf. And it is a great honor to finally meet you sir." And at this Dobby bowed to Harry.

"Okay, no offence or anything, but this is a very bad time for a house elf to be visiting me right now."

"No! Dobby has come to warn Harry Potter! Grave things are happening at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year. Terrible things!"

"What sort of things?"

"Dobby must not say! Bad Dobby! BAD!"

At this Dobby started hitting his head on Harry's dresser and started shaking the room.

Harry tried desperately to stop him, but his attempts were futile at Dobby found more ways to injure himself.

Dust fell from the ceiling, and all five looked up.

"Oh!" Vernon started. "That's just the…um…cat! Yes the cat."

"Dad," Dudley started, "we don't have a cat."

"Yes we do!" He shot his son a dirty look as if to say 'play along'. "Our cat that we keep upstairs…um…Tiger!"

"Oh ya…" Dudley stated, giving the visitors more information. "He looks like a tiger so that's what we call him."

"Look! Dobby stop! What do you want me to do! Just stop!" Harry pleaded with the elf.

"Harry Potter must promise not to go back to Hogwarts this year!" Dobby demanded from Harry.

"I can't!" Harry protested. "Hogwarts is my home!"

"But bad things are happening at Hogwarts this year! Terrible things!"

"What sort of things?" Harry questioned again.

At this Dobby gasped and started banging his head on the closet in Harry's room.

"Bad Dobby! Bad!"

"Ok, Dobby! Ok! Just don't get me into trouble again. Otherwise I'll be trapped here."

At this Dobby's face lit up, and Harry knew he'd said too much as Dobby dashed from the room.

Harry chased Dobby down the stairs and into the kitchen. Harry looked down at Dobby to see him glancing back and forth between his relatives and the cake on the counter.

"Dobby! Get back here now!" Harry whispered to the elf.

"Harry Potter must promise not to go back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

"I can't do that! You know that!"

At this, Dobby snapped his fingers and the cake levitated off the counter. Dobby the snapped again and the cake started to move to the guests. Harry, not knowing what to do now, quietly walked over and tried to catch up with the cake in hopes that he could catch it, and hopefully eat it. Just before he was in reach of it, the cake fell . . . right on the face of Mrs. Mason. As Harry looked back at Dobby, the elf snapped his fingers and disappeared before anything else happened.

Harry looked back to see his Uncle fake crying trying to explain to his guests what was going on.

"I'm so sorry! He's our unstable nephew! We keep him locked away up stairs because guests frighten him!" Blabbered Vernon, but his attempts were futile as the Masons stormed out of the house.

As soon as they were gone, Vernon turned on Harry, his face purple with rage. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but before he could talk a letter flew into his open mouth. Uncle Vernon took the letter out of his mouth, opened it and read the contents, then gave it to Harry with a smirk on his face.

_Mr. Harry J. Potter_

_It has come to our attention that a levitation charm was used in your household at approximately 9:22 P.M. As you know underage magic is forbidden outside of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This is your one warning. The next time this happens you will be expelled from Hogwarts._

_Thank you,_

_Amelia Bones _

Harry's face paled as he read this.

"Forgot to mention that did you?" Uncle Vernon teased with that smile still on his face.

"I know!" The fat walrus stated, "We'll lock him in his room. That way if he breaks out using his . . . disability, he'll be expelled. If he doesn't, he'll not go! We win either way!"

The next thing Harry knew, he was staring out his bedroom window, watching as his Uncle drilled iron bars up on his window.

This was definitely turning out to be the worst birthday ever.

'_I should have known this would happen.' _Harry thought to himself. '_I'll probable only have one good birthday, and that was last year.'_

* * *

><p>That night, Harry had a horrible dream.<p>

In it, he was back at Hogwarts, and he was looking at the Mirror of Erised. But it wasn't showing his greatest desire, rather his greatest fear.

He saw Voldemort in Quirrell's body, and he was walking up to him with his wand drawn. Harry couldn't move, but he knew something was about to happen. Harry looked behind himself, only to see nothing, but Voldemort was in the mirror.

Voldemort then pointed his want at something out of Harry's line of vision. The next thing he knew, a limp Ginny floated over to where Harry was standing.

Harry wanted to scream. It was horrible!

Harry tried to reach out to her, but he couldn't move.

The next thing he knew, Ginny was still floating, but was now staring at Harry. Voldemort was gone, but Harry still felt his presence.

Now Ginny started crying! Harry wanted to help her, but he couldn't move.

"Why, Harry? Why!?" Ginny asked Harry through muffled tears.

Finally Harry was able to move, but he wasn't doing it willingly. He started to talk to the helpless Ginny.

"Because you are a stupid foolish little girl!" At this Harry raised his wand at her and a green light shot out of it.

Harry was screaming at himself inside but couldn't do anything to stop himself.

As soon as the green light hit Ginny, she went limp and fell to the ground. As soon as she hit the floor, Harry was able to move again. He ran over to the limp Ginny and started to cry into her arms as he hugged her.

He heard a sort of rumble in the background while he was holding Ginny, but ignored it while he wallowed in his sadness.

All of a sudden, Ginny's eyes flew wide open. But instead of the chocolate brown they usually were, they were glowing and shining light into Harry's face.

At this he woke up and looked around his room for his glasses.

"Morning Harry!" a familiar voice called from his window.

Harry spun around to see three familiar red heads sitting just outside his window in a flying car.

"Ron!" Harry finally managed to get out. "Fred! George! What are you doing here?"

"Rescuing you of course!" Ron said to him, almost as if it were completely obvious. "Now come on!"

Harry ran around his room and started packing his trunk, gathering everything he would need for the year as he knew he wouldn't be coming back.

As soon as he had taken everything that he would need, Fred hooked a hook to the bars on Harry's window and started to drive away.

When the bars ripped from the wall, it made a loud noise throughout the house, which woke up the Dursleys.

"He's getting away!" Harry heard through his door.

"Quick! Hurry up!" Egged on Ron as Harry closed the trunk of the car.

Harry heard the multiple locks on his door being opened as he handed Hedwig to George.

Just as Harry started to climb out of the window into the car, Vernon Dursley swung the door open, looked around, and made a beeline for Harry once he was spotted.

Harry tried to get into the car, but Vernon grabbed onto his ankle and wouldn't let go.

"Let me go!" Harry screamed at his Uncle.

"You're . . . not . . . going . . . ANYWHERE!" Vernon screamed between breaths.

"Drive!" Ron shouted, and George hit the gas.

The car started to move, and as it was torn away from the window, Vernon was ripped from Harry's ankle and fell into the bushes below.

But it wasn't over yet.

With Vernon's enormous body mass, the car was left swaying from side to side. Harry lost his grip on his seat and started to fall out the back seat of the car.

Harry fell but grabbed on to the ledge of the door, normally where people put their feet when their exiting or entering the car.

The car was still shaking, and Harry was losing his grip. Just when he thought he was going to fall to his death, a hand shot out from a blanket on the floor of the car and grabbed his wrist.

'_I've got you,'_ A soft, sweet voice said in his head, _'and I'm not letting go.'_

Harry looked up to see who the hand belonged to, and found him staring into the beautiful brown eyes of . . . Ginny Weasley.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: The Burrow**

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><p><strong>AN: First of all thank you to all my reviewers. I'm taking just about everyone's advice on this to try and make it better. Unfortunately, with school starting up again, it will be harder to update my story, but I will do it as often as I can. Also, I will be starting a new story where Harry and his second best friend, Phil (who will be introduced in this story), travel back in time to when Harry's parents went to school. But only one can return, and when he does, the other will forget everything. Again thank you to all who are reading this and now, on with the chapter.<strong>

* * *

><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did it wouldn't be famous.<p>

* * *

><p>'<em>Oh my God! It's Ginny!' <em>Harry thought to himself.

At this Ginny's eyes widened and she almost let go of Harry's hand.

'_Harry?' _Harry heard Ginny's voice in his head saying, _'Can you hear me?'_

But before Harry could respond, he heard Ron's voice saying, "Nice catch Ginny, but where the bloody hell did you come from?"

Ginny seemed to get an annoyed look on her face as she shouted back, "I heard you getting up and talking about rescuing Harry, so I snuck into the car when you were trying to get the invisibility booster to work! Would you rather me not have come? Cause then Harry wouldn't be here either!"

"Ickle-Gin-Gin always thought it would be Harry rescuing her," Fred started.

"But little did she know it would be her saving Harry!" George finished.

At this Ginny's face blushed so red that you couldn't tell the difference between her face and her hair. "Just help me up will you?" Ginny shot back at the twins.

The twins hurriedly grabbed Harry's other hand and helped Ginny pull Harry back up into the car. This proved to be easier said than done, because as soon as Harry was in the car, the momentum from the twins, Ginny, the shaking car, and his own legs had shot him across the car. The twins, being in the front seat, remained unharmed, but Ginny on the other hand was not so lucky. Harry was flung across the can, with Ginny in his arms. Ginny's back hit the door of the car and then the car shook again, sending them into a seat, with Ginny straddling Harry's lap. Before either of them could register what had just happened, the Fred drove off so as not to be seen by the muggles. As soon as the car had started flying away, the animated seat belts activated, wrapping around Ron, who was on the right side of the car, and Ginny and Harry, who were still tangled on the left side of the car, forcing Ginny to remain on Harry's lap.

"Hey!" Ron shouted once he realized what was going on, "Just what do you think you're doing with my sister!"

"Nothing Ron! We just ended up like this and now we're stuck like this. There's nothing we can do about it, is there?"

"Matter of fact there is! Fred! George! Stop the car!"

"Sorry Ronniekins," Fred started.

"No can do." George continued.

"We might risk,"

"Being seen,"

"By the muggles!" the two pranksters said at the same time, a slow smile creeping onto both of their faces.

"But Harry and Ginny! There in the same seat and they can't get out! Stop the car!" Ron complained.

"Oh well with that said," Fred started, and a slow look of relief started to wash over Ron's face.

"Then there's no way we're gonna stop now!" George finished the grin now clearly visible on both of their faces.

"And by the looks of it," Fred started again,

"Harry's enjoying it as much as,"

"Ginny!" The two said in perfect synchronization.

At this, Ron, Harry, and Ginny all blushed deeply, and the twins burst out laughing.

It was going to be a long ride home.

* * *

><p>About fifteen minutes into the drive, Ginny's head was resting on the window of the car, staring out into the night sky, so Harry decided he needed to test something once and for all.<p>

'_Ginny?' _Harry thought in his head, _'Can you hear me? Because I could hear you earlier.'_

At this Ginny's head shot off the window and she looked at Harry, eyes wide with shock.

'_I think I can hear you, but I might be imagining it. If you can hear me, raise you both of your hands and trace your scar.'_

At first, Harry was confused at this but once he realized what she was trying to prove he raised both hands and traced the lightning shaped scar that was imprinted on his forehead.

'_So you can hear me?' _Harry thought, hoping against hope for this to be the case.

Ginny's eyes were wide with joy and Harry could hear her in his head saying, _'Yes! I can hear you! I can hear you!'_

'_What do you think this is?' _Harry asked her.

'_I don't really know to be honest.' _Ginny replied.

'_Do you think we should tell anyone?'_

'_Well, I'm not sure. I for one am not going to tell anyone, but if there's someone at Hogwarts that you can trust, then we can tell them. I've just never met anyone that I know well enough, that's all.'_

'_Well if you're not gonna tell anyone, then I'm not gonna tell anyone. Does that sound good?'_

'_Yes. Yes it does. Thank you Harry.' _And with that Ginny enveloped Harry into a hug.

* * *

><p>For Ron, this was the most annoying car ride he had ever experienced. First, Ginny gets forced into the lap of his best mate and is stuck there. Second, Fred and George refuse to stop the car so that Ginny can get back to normal. Then, about thirty minutes into the car ride, Harry and Ginny start staring into each other's eyes for thirty minutes. Then Ginny gives Harry a hug, and she rests her head on his shoulder for the last five hours of the trip. Harry doesn't even push her away! Instead, he hugs her back! Finally, just when he's about to say something about it, George points his wand in his face, and puts his finger to his lips, advising that he be quiet, lest he want to be blasted into oblivion.<p>

Things just weren't going well for Ron today, and it was barley morning. Already, his sister had been with Harry for one hour and she was taking him away himself. The one thing he could hold over her head was on the road to being one of the many things she could hold over his head. He couldn't let that happen.

And he was going to do everything in his power to prevent that.

* * *

><p>Harry was having just about the best birthday of his life. Only an hour into the day and he had Ginny in his arms, her head on his shoulder. He still wondered where they were going, as no one had told him. Ginny had fallen asleep on his shoulder so he didn't want to wake her up to ask where they were going, Ron was out of the question because Ginny's head was in the way, and he didn't want to wake her up. Fred was driving, and George seemed occupied with Ron, so Harry just let it be.<p>

Harry eventually fell asleep, but luckily for him, he only had to wait five minutes until they arrived at what appeared to be an old shack, but a very tall and sturdy one at that. As soon as the car hit the ground, everyone in the car bounced, which woke Ginny up, and only then did Harry realize the wet spot on his shoulder.

"S-s-sorry, Harry." Ginny stammered out while trying to get in a yawn.

"You're fine Ginny. Don't worry about it." Harry replied with a smile on his face.

As soon as the car stopped, the magic seatbelt undid itself and Ginny climbed off Harry's lap and rolled into the middle seat with a slight blush on her face, but not as deep as it had been earlier that morning. Harry shrugged it off and got out of the car. As soon as he was out, he turned around and offered a hand to Ginny, who took it gratefully.

'_Where are we?' _Harry asked Ginny.

'_The Burrow, it's our home.'_ Ginny replied. _'Come on inside, I'll show you around. Just as long as mum doesn't kill us for rescuing you.'_

'_Don't worry, I'm sure she won't do that.' _Harry said in a half-mock tone.

At this Ginny let go of Harry's hand and turned on him.

'_Harry Potter. You have a lot to learn while you are staying with us.'_

'_Joy.' _Harry told her in response as they went inside the house.

Quietly, the five children made their way in through the front door and into the kitchen. Fred motioned for Harry to follow them up the stairs to Ron's bedroom, but as soon as they turned the corner, a rather large, bushy-haired red-head, who Harry recognized as Mrs. Weasley from the train station, sprang up on them, and all of them jumped.

"Where HAVE you been!" She started yelling, "Bed's empty, no note car gone! You could have been seen! Ginny could have been killed!"

"Actually Harry almost fell out of the car but Ginny saved him…"

"Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley cut off her youngest son, "Are you alright? And you too Ginny? Both okay? That's good. Ginny, how did they talk you into this?"

"Actually mum, I heard the boys going down the stairs, and I heard them talking about going to rescue Harry, so I snuck in the car and hid under a blanket on the floor. After the boys ripped the bars off Harry's window…"

But Mrs. Weasley cut her off. "There were bars on your window? Harry dear what sort of horrible muggles do you live with? Any way I'm so sorry Ginny dear, please continue."

"Yes, so after the bars, Harry's uncle tried to stop Harry from leaving, so as Harry was getting in the car, his uncle grabbed Harry's ankle and wouldn't let go. So Fred drove and Harry's uncle fell out of the car, but his weight that would give an elephant a scare shook the car and Harry fell out. He was holding on to the car with one hand, so I reached out to grab him, and I managed to grab his wrist just as his hand slipped."

"Oh Ginny," Mrs. Weasley started with tears in her eyes. "That was so great. Thank you so much."

She then turned to Harry. "I'm so glad you're alright Harry." And with that she enveloped him into a bone-crushing hug.

"Mum!" Harry heard Ginny yell. "He needs to breath!"

"Oh yes sorry dear." Mrs. Weasley said.

"You three," She started, turning on the boys. "Will be de-gnoming the garden for the morning, and when you're done I'll have lots of other chores for you to do."

"Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley said to Harry, her tone changed dramatically. "Why don't you and Ginny go off and play. I'm sure she'd love to show you around the house."

"Okay. Thank you Mrs. Weasley." Harry replied, a big grin on his face.

And with that, Ginny took Harry's hand and raced him up the stairs.

* * *

><p>If Ron thought his day couldn't get any worse, he was wrong. Now not only did he have to de-gnome the garden and do chores for the rest of the day, but his little sister was off with his best mate. He didn't want to have to share something, especially Harry. All his brothers were good at something, except for Percy, but he didn't really count, unless you include being good at annoying people and being perfect at everything. Bill- Head Boy at Hogwarts and current Curse Breaker. Charlie- Gryffindor Quiditch Team Captain and Dragon Specialist. Percy- nerd. Fred and George- Notorious Hogwarts pranksters and the funniest kids in the school.<p>

Then there was him; Ron- Harry Potter's best, but "tag-along", friend who's always was doing stupid things. And now he wasn't even going to be his best friend anymore. Ginny was taking him away from himself. And there was nothing he could do about it. Nothing at the moment that is.

* * *

><p>Harry's day was just getting better and better as it went on. When he thought his experience in the car would be the highlight of his birthday, he didn't think he would be spending the day with the girl of his dreams of the past six months. Sure he felt bad about Ron having to work the whole day, but honestly, he was relieved that he didn't have to join him, and was overjoyed when Ginny took him on a tour of the Burrow until breakfast, which wasn't for another hour. He would catch up with Ron later.<p>

First they went upstairs, and Ginny showed him her room. It wasn't overly girly, sure there was pink stuff, but that was from the Quiditch decorations of what Harry soon learned was her favorite team, The Holly Head Harpies. The rest seemed plain and just like a normal room. Then they went outside and went around the property. Harry especially liked the make-shift Quiditch pitch that was behind the house.

"Do you play Quiditch?" Harry asked Ginny.

"Well . . . it's . . . complicated." Replied Ginny slowly.

"I'm listening." Harry told her, an eager smile on his face.

"Well, you see," Ginny started. "My brothers never let me play with them; I don't even think they know I can fly. But as often as I can, I'll sneak out of the house at night and fly on their brooms."

"Well how 'bout we see how good you are?" Harry suggested.

But before Harry could respond they heard Mrs. Weasley calling from the house.

"Harry! Ginny! Breakfast!"

"Coming Mum!" Shouted Ginny before turning to Harry. "We'll play later."

And with that she grabbed his hand and the two raced off to the house.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Diagon Ally**

**AN: Ok guys, so I know that I haven't updated in almost like a year, so I'm sorry. There I said it. I was caught up in school and sports and girls that I didn't have any time to write this. However, now that it is summer, I'll be able to write more often! Yay! More Chapters I know right? So anyway, in the next two to three chapters I'll be making a second, alternate "Golden Trio" in Ginny's year. Alternate, as in there will be one boy and two girls, but the two groups will be close friends and stuff. And so yeah I feel like I owe you that much of info for the future as I haven't updated in forever. Well that's that, and always remember to review, as I will always take your ideas into consideration. And so . . . roll the chapter!**

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

Molly Weasley was looking out at her youngest and only daughter with conflicting thoughts. On one hand she should be happy for her daughter, making a friend so quickly before going off to Hogwarts. And not just any friend, but with Harry Potter. THE Harry Potter. The boy who defeated the Dark Lord at age one and who stopped him again just last year. But he was also the boy of her dreams and Ron's best friend.

'_She's too young for boys! She doesn't know what she's getting into! She could take him away from Ron! The whole family could be split up!'_

'_Or it could be brought closer together if Ron could just get over his jealousy problems.' _The rational part of her brain said.

'_Well, maybe it's a phase. Once she goes off to Hogwarts she'll be just fine, make her own friends, and Harry and Ron will go do their own thing, rescuing a damsel in distress or something from a legendary monster.'_

And with that thought she went back to her cooking.

"I WIN!" Harry exclaimed as he burst through the door way, with Ginny hot at his heels.

"That's no fair, it's only because you're older! If we were the same age, I'd beat you easily."

"Doubt it. I've had so much experience from running, you'll never catch up to me. Besides, I was going easy on you."

"Easy? Pfft! don't make me laugh! But what do you mean you've had "experience"?"

At this Harry's mouth shut and he went completely still, the life draining from his face. "I's nothing. I just… ummm… I run a lot. Like every day. In the morning of course, when my relatives are asleep and stuff."

"Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley questioned, "why do you do it when your relatives are asleep?"

"Oh… ummm… because, well… because… they don't like exercising?"

"Of Course!" Fred exclaimed as he came in from the garden.

"One look at his uncle and you would have never thought he knew what a treadmill was!" George finished, coming in right after his twin.

But Ginny caught the look on his face. _'We're talking about this later.'_ She mentally said to him, in a tone that left no room for argument.

Ron followed George into the house but wasn't saying anything. Instead, he had a sour look on his face. But as soon as he saw all the food that was on the table, he immediately forgot everything that happened that morning. His face lit up like a light bulb and he practically dove into a chair, waiting for everyone to follow suit.

Harry took a seat on Ron's right, and Ginny sat down on Harry's. _'Maybe this won't be so bad after all,' _Ron thought to himself, _'I mean Ginny and I can both be friends with Harry, as long as he's still my best mate and all.'_

As the Weasley clan started digging in to their meal, the door opened to reveal the head of the pack.

"Dad's home!" George shouted.

"What a night," he mumbled as he sat down next to Ron at the head of the table. "Nine raids. Nine! And old Mundungus Fletcher tried to put a hex on me when I had my back turned. . ." Mr. Weasley took a long gulp of tea and sighed.

"Find anything, Dad?" said Fred eagerly.

"All I got were a few shrinking keys and a biting kettle," yawned Mr. Weasley. "There was some pretty nasty stuff that wasn't in my department, though. Mortlake was taken away for questioning about some extremely old ferrets, but that's the Committee on Experimental Charms, thank Merlin. . ."

"Why would someone bother making door keys shrink?" asked George

"Just muggle baiting," sighed Mr. Weasley. "Sell them a key that keeps shrinking to nothing so they can never find it when they need it. . . Of course, it's very hard to convict anyone because no Muggle would admit their key keeps shrinking – they'll insist they just keep losing it. Bless them, they'll go to any lengths to ignore magic, even if it's staring them in the face. . . But the things our lot have taken into enchanting, you wouldn't believe –"

"LIKE CARS, FOR INSTANCE?"

"W-what do you mean c-cars, Molly, dear?"

"WHY DON'T YOU ASK HARRY HOW HE GOT HERE?"

"Harry? Harry who?" At this Harry raised his hand and Mr. Weasley took a good look at him.

"Oh, sorry, sir. I'm Harry, sir, Harry Potter."

"Good Lord," came Mr. Weasley's reply, "are you really?" At this Harry nodded his head. "Well, Ron's told us all about you of course! When did he get here?"

"The morning," came the matriarch's reply, "Your sons flew that enchanted car of yours to Surry and back last night!"

"I was with them too!" came Ginny's response, eager to be included in things. "I saved Harry from falling out of the car!"

"Did you really? How'd it go? Did it fly alright?" At this Mrs. Weasley wacked her husband upside the head with a wooden spoon. "I mean, that was very wrong indeed boys, very wrong of you." At this most of the table was snickering to themselves, but Ron looked accused.

"But Ginny was with us too!"

"Oh yes she was wasn't she. Well, Ginny, good job on saving Harry, good job indeed." Ron looked like he was about to explode, but Harry put an arm on his soldier, which calmed him down immediately, knowing harry was still with him. "Now, Harry, you must know all about Muggles. Tell me, what exactly is the function of a rubber duck?"

"Oh, um. . ." but Harry would not have a chance to finish his sentence, as a very old brown owl came crashing into the kitchen window.

"Oh that'd be Errol." Said Mrs. Weasley, "Go get him, will you Percy?"

Percy stood up and went over to the window where Errol had crashed. He stuck his head outside and reached down to pick up the bird off the ground. "Oh look, it's our Hogwarts letters! They sent us Harry's as well."

"Dumbledore must know you're here, Harry. Doesn't miss a trick that man."

'_Except that he let a mass murderer teach at the school, almost killing you.'_ Ginny said to Harry.

'_You don't like Dumbledore?!'_ Harry asked astounded, '_After all he's done?'_

'_You mean like leaving you with relatives you hate you and beat you, and letting Voldemort into the castle, and sending you into the forbidden forest on your own? What he did in the past was great, yes, but what he's doing now isn't so great.'_

Harry didn't have a response to this, but it definitely gave him a lot to think about.

"This lot won't come cheap, mum," George said, "Spell books alone are very expensive. . ."

"We'll manage." Came Mrs. Weasley's less than confident response.

Just then an idea came to Harry. "Mrs. Weasley, I would like to thank you by letting me say here for the rest of the summer. . ."

"Oh think nothing of it Harry, dear. You're always welcome here."

"Yes, well thank you, but I would also like to thank Ginny personally for saving my life, so I would like to buy her stuff for her." At Mrs. Weasley's objecting look he quickly continued, "I have more than enough money just sitting in my account, and I'd rather spend it on my friends rather than just letting it sit there. You guys have been so great to me and I just want to be able to thank you guys as best as I can."

'_Harry NO!' _was Ginny's mental response.

"Harry, dear, that is so kind of you but I really think that we should –"

"Accept your most gracious offer!" finished Mr. Weasley from the other room.

Many reactions went off. Ron looked furious. Fred and George looked amused. Percy didn't care. Mrs. Weasley looked speechless but defeated, and turned around in a huff, not noticing Fred and George putting their wands away, and not realizing that Mr. Weasley was asleep upstairs.

"Well," continued Mrs. Weasley, "here's only one place where we can get all this. Diagon Ally."

The whole family stood up and started to walk towards the living room, and Harry, not knowing what to do, stood up and followed suit.

They all walked towards the fire place, where Mrs. Weasley picked up a cup with some kind of powder in it.

'_Floo powder,' _came Ginny's answer to his unsaid question, _'It lets you ravel from one place to another through the fire place.'_

'_Is it safe?'_

'_Of course it's safe! Do you think my mum would let us do something dangerous? Of course not! We'd have to go behind her back or something.'_

"Alright. Harry, dear, you first."

"Mum," interjected Ron, Harry's never traveled by floo before. Maybe he should go with someone else?"

"But Ron, two people can't go at the same time. They'd be too big."

"But if he went with someone smaller like me…"

"No, no, no, Ron you're too big . . . Ginny! You're smaller! Why don't you go with Harry?"

"Ok mum!" Ginny replied happily, grabbing Harry's hand and dragging him into the fireplace. Ginny took some floo powder, and before Ron could object she threw the powder down on the ground shouting, "Diagon Ally!"

Harry felt as though he were being sucked down a giant drain. He seemed to be spinning very fast – the roaring in his ears was deafening – he tried to keep his eyes open but the whirl of green flames made him feel sick – something knocked hard into his elbow and he grabbed on to Ginny tighter – now it felt as though cold hands were slapping at his face – squinting through his glasses he saw a blurred stream of fireplaces and snatched glimpses of the rooms beyond – his bacon sandwiches were churning inside him – he closed his eyes again wishing it would stop, and then – he fell, face forward, right on top of Ginny so they were nose to nose. They then heard two successive whooshes and heard the familiar voices behind them.

"Well, well, well. . ."

". . . What do we have here?"

"Did you two lovebirds slip a little?"

"Or did you just lose yourself in one another?"

Fred and George. Of course they had to follow them.

Just then two strong hands grabbed Harry by his shirt and lifted him up. Looking around he realized he was in the upstairs section of Flourish and Blotts. Turning around he saw Fred and George standing there, smirks on their faces. "As much as we would love for the two of you to get to know each other better…"

"We think mum should be here soon, and her seeing you like that would be bad for us."

"Yeah, she would yell at us for not looking after you properly, and for letting you get into this situation."

"And right in front of the whole store? Gosh what would that do to our reputation?"

"Best not to think about it, Forgie."

"Right you are Gred."

Just at that moment Mr. Weasley came out the floo, followed by Percy, Ron, and the finally Mrs. Weasley. "Oh Harry! Ginny! Thank goodness you're alright! Now, quickly, quickly, it's about to start."

Before Harry could question what was going on, he found himself being pulled once again by Ginny down the stairs and to the back of the store. There, a display of books about one man was set up, and that wizard was coming out from the back now. He was a tall man with blond hair and blue eyes that matched his robes. His name was Gilderoy Lockhart.

A short, irritable-looking man was dancing around taking photographs with a large black camera that emitted puffs of purple smoke with every blinding flash. "Out of the way, there," he snarled at Ron, moving back to get a better shot. "This is for the _Daily Prophet_ –"

"Big deal," said Ron, rubbing his foot where the photographer had stepped on it.

Gilderoy Lockhart heard him. He looked up. He saw Ron – and then he saw Harry. He stared. Then he leapt to his feet and positively shouted, "It _can't_ be Harry Potter?"

The crowd parted, whispering excitedly; Lockhart dived forward, seized Harry's arm, and pulled him to the front. The crowd burst into applause. Harry's face burned like mad as Lockhart shook his hand for the photographer, who was clicking away madly, wafting thick smoke over the Weasleys. "Nice big smile, Harry," Lockhart said through his own gleaming teeth. "Together, you and I are worth the front page."

When he finally let go of Harry's hand, Harry could hardly feel his fingers. He tried to slide back over to the Weasleys, but Lockhart threw an arm around his shoulders and clamped him tightly to his side.

'_Having fun up there?'_ came Ginny's mental voice.

'_Oh shut it you. You'd love this right now if you were in my position, wouldn't you?'_

'_Oh Merlin no. hat mans a fraud through and through. However I do have my eyes set on the other young man up there.'_ And with that Ginny gave him a wink from the crowd, causing Harry to blush furiously.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Lockhart said loudly, waving for quiet. "What an extraordinary moment this is! The perfect moment for me to make a little announcement I've been sitting on for some time!" Harry saw Hermione slip in next to Ron, who brightened up immediately after recognizing her. "When young Harry here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, he only wanted to by my autobiography – which I shall be happy to present him now, free of charge –" The crowd applauded again, Hermione and Mrs. Weasley the most excessively. "He had no _idea_," Lockhart continued, giving Harry a little shake that made his glasses slip to the end of his nose, "that he would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, _Magical Me_. He and his schoolmates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September, I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!"

The crowd cheered and clapped and Harry found himself being presented with the complete collection of Gilderoy Lockhart. Staggering slightly under their weight, he managed to make his way out of the lime-light to the edge of the room, where Ginny was now standing next to her new cauldron. "You have these, I'll buy my own."

Just as they were making their way to the back, Harry heard a voice that he had no trouble recognizing. "Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter?" Draco Malfoy's usual drawl came from the staircase. "_Famous_ Harry Potter, can't even go into a _bookshop _without making the front page."

"Leave him alone, he didn't want all that!" Ginny growled at Malfoy.

"Oh look Potter, you've got yourself a _girlfriend_!"

"Better than anything you could pay for." Harry retorted at him. At this Malfoy's face went from German pale to Weasley red.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the Weasleys." It was Mr. Malfoy. He came up behind Draco and put his hand on his son's shoulder, sneering in just the same way.

"Lucius," said Mr. Weasley, coming up behind his own children.

"Busy time at the ministry, I hear," Continued Mr. Malfoy. "All those raids . . . I hope they're paying you overtime?" He reached into Ginny's cauldron and extracted, from amid all the brand new Lockhart books, a very old, very battered copy of _A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration._ "Obviously not," Mr. Malfoy said. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of a wizard if they don't even pay you well for it? Hmm, shame." And with that he put Ginny's book back into her cauldron. "I'll see you at work." And he left the shop

"I'll see you at school, Potter." Sneered Malfoy as he stormed out of the book shop.


End file.
